Family festivals offer a day of celebration and discovery inspired by exhibitions at the Getty Center. Each unique festival features performances by local dance and music groups, storytelling, art-making workshops, and gallery activities.

Family Festival celebrating In Focus: Play

We're turning the Getty Center into a gigantic playground for this daylong festival celebrating the simple act of play in all of its forms. From hula hoops to dance workshops, and from chess masters to checkers, there's something for everyone in this fun-filled day. Storytelling and music mix with circus acts, board games, pick-up sticks, and the Getty's first ping-pong party. Get your game face on!

KidTribe
11:00–11:20 a.m., 4:00–4:20 p.m.
Get up! Stand up! And put your hands up! 'Cuz KidTribe is in the house. Dance, sing, shout, and hula-hoop it out! Come on and join the fun!

Scot Nery and Michael Rayner

Scot Nery and Michael Rayner
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m., 1:00–1:30 p.m.,
2:15–2:45 p.m., 4:30–5:00 p.m.
With their juggling, shoe-balancing, pancake-flipping, jubilant comedy party, these two expert entertainers will have you laughing and shouting even if you're a grown-up. After performing separately all over the world on stage, TV, and film, you can see them live and together for the first time ever.

Dot Racing. Photo: Mentha Designs

ARRIVAL PLAZA

Wise Guys presents: Dot Racing
10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
A party classic with a new competitive twist. Make your way down our jumbo 20-foot game mat and be first to reach the finish line.

Wise Guys presents: Pickpocket Junction
4:00–5:30 p.m.
The game of trains, brains, and ill-gotten gains. Steal the most loot from your opponents' trench coats with novelty, oversize clothespins to win.

Play Folk presents: Field Tower Defense
3:00–4:30 p.m.
Take turns on offense and defense trying to reach the tower. A big field strategy game played with two teams, ball pit balls, and inflatable swords and shields.

Hula-hooping
4:30–5:30 p.m.
Hula-hoop free time in the garden.

Solar photogram. Photo: Glynnis McDaris

WORKSHOPS
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (last seating at 5:30 p.m.)

Playing with the Sun: A Game-Themed Solar Photogram Workshop
Make your own photogram by placing objects on light-sensitive paper that will be exposed to the sun. The areas of the paper covered by objects will remain unexposed, creating a unique photographic collage. Participants will choose from a selection of playful objects such as jacks, game pieces, slinky toys, and more to create custom photograms to take home.

Memory Game
Create your own memory game using images of the Getty and games!

Story Exchange
Stop by the Story Exchange where it's all about why we play, what we play and the power of play! Participate in or observe timed storytelling games on the topic of play. Lounge on blankets picnic-style, unwind your mind, connect the dots, play tic-tac-toe, ponder play-full questions and display your responses to share and compare.

Family Festival celebrating Chivalry in the Middle Ages
September 20, 2014
Travel with your imagination to the age of chivalry in this daylong festival celebrating knights in armor, ladies of the court and all things noble, inspired by the exhibition Chivalry in the Middle Ages. Listen to tales of Arthur's Round Table and deeds of great bravery through age-old stories and myths. Watch as a master blacksmith demonstrates how to forge a suit of armor, design a family coat of arms, and decorate a goblet for your own royal feast.

Family Festival celebrating A Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography
April 12, 2014
Hear ye! Hear ye! Her royal majesty Queen Victoria invites young and old alike to journey to her 19th-century realm via the magical world of photography and the excitement of a family festival. Visitors can enjoy the majestic bagpipe sounds of the Queen's beloved Scotland, sing along to boisterous English music hall tunes, revel in the topsy-turvy world of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and have pictures taken to create a personal "carte de visite." Girls and boys can even make their own royal crown at a hands-on workshop. Kids of all ages can remember the day for the rest of his or her reign with a photo album of this royal visit to the Getty Center.

Family Festival celebrating Canterbury and St. Albans: Treasures from Church and Cloister
October 19, 2013
Make the pilgrimage to Canterbury at this day-long immersive festival and be transported back to the medieval world. Experience the music and dance of Chaucer's time with LA-based Capella-Cordina, Brigid's Daughters and Ciaramella. Discover the richness of the Canterbury Tales through acclaimed performers We Tell Stories and David Prather, and create your own 21st-century version of a stained-glass window at one of the hands-on workshops.

Family Festival Celebrating Gardens of the Renaissance
June 8, 2013Celebrate the Gardens of the Renaissance in this free daylong family festival. Create a garden of your very own or fashion a floral wreath at one the interactive workshops. Delight in the sounds of madrigals from the 15th and 16th centuries or listen to tales of distant kingdoms with renowned storytellers.

Family Festival Celebrating Herb Ritts: L.A. Style and Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity
June 9, 2012
Delve into the world of celebrity, image, photography, and Los Angeles at this free daylong family festival inspired by the exhibitions Herb Ritts: L.A. Style and Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity. Participants designed a magazine cover with a photo of themself as the featured celebrity, learned how to vogue like Madonna, and danced to the sounds of Los Angeles at the close of the 20th century.

Pacific Standard Time Family Festival
October 22, 2011
Inspired by art in L.A., this daylong festival invited a new generation of local artists to reinterpret the creative legacy of artists featured in the Pacific Standard Time initiative. Guests discovered special performances and unexpected installations by Machine Project, Kim Ye, and other local artists, made their own mail art, helped to recreate a version of Di Suvero's Peace Tower with Becca Lofchie, and so much more at this only-in-Los Angeles event! This event was part of Pacific Standard Time at the Getty Center.

Family Festival Celebrating Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia
June 4, 2011
Visitors experienced the beauty and wonder of Cambodia in this daylong celebration complementing the exhibition Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia. This festival featured traditional Cambodian music and dance performances, hands-on workshops, storytelling with Sheetal Gandhi, and a fashion show featuring traditional Cambodian clothing.

Family Festival Celebrating Photography from the New China and Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern RoadMarch 19, 2011
Visitors discovered the richness and beauty of the ancient empires of India, Japan, and China as well as recent explosions in artistic creativity. This festival featured traditional Chinese opera, Chinese folktales told by a master storyteller, and the amazing music and dance of these vibrant cultures. Inspired by Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road and Photography from the New China.

Family Festival Celebrating Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture: Inspiration and InnovationJune 5, 2010
Visitors entered the world of Leonardo da Vinci and Italian culture in this daylong celebration with music, theater, storytelling, and interactive workshops. Featured were the tale of Pinocchio as performed by Will & Company, the timeless magic of commedia dell'arte in The World on the Moon directed by Orlando Pabotoy, folk music by Musicàntica, story teller Carl Weintraub as Leonardo da Vinci, and art-making workshops including making a sketchbook inspired by Leonardo's drawings, creating a maquette of an equestrian monument, making a frame and designing a postcard. Inspired by the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture: Inspiration and Invention.

How to Get Here
The Getty Center is located at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, California, approximately 12 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. See Hours, Directions, Parking for maps and driving directions.